The Performing Arts Centre "Kilden" houses three organizations: the "Agder Theater," the "Kristiansand Philharmonic" and the "Opera South."

Along the waterside, a huge cantilevered roof covers both the public city-space by the sea and the foyer space which provides access to the shows. The undulating facade, clad with local oak, follows the forms defined by the halls and creates a surface separating the real world from the illusional. The infinite blackness of the other facades emphasizes the spectacle of the foyer.

Photo by Iwan Baan

Photo by Iwan Baan

Passing through, the audience moves from the natural landscape to the realm of performing arts. The wall allures the audience and expresses the diversity of artistic performances housed by the building as well as the power induced by their combination.

Photo by Iwan Baan Photo by Iwan Baan Photo by Iwan Baan Photo by Iwan Baan The public foyer is an expressive, free flowing area of improvisation. The foyer is easy for the public to navigate and find their way to the different auditoriums and support functions.

Photo by Iwan Baan Photo by Iwan Baan Photo by Iwan Baan

The four performance halls are lined up in the mid-zone of the building leaving the production spaces to the east and audience spaces to the west side.

The auditoriums are conceived as individual, high-performance instruments for music and theater productions. The architectural expression of the halls is formal and precise. They have a touch and feel of units with multiple uses and a very high level of technical functionality.

Photo by Iwan Baan

Photo by Iwan Baan

Photo by Iwan Baan

All the production facilities of the building are organized along a straight indoor street, wide enough for trucks to deliver sets, instruments and materials. The building is a sharp object with an almost exaggerated clarity of expression. It stands proudly in the rough industrial surroundings as an elegant machine - a building as an instrument.